NEW DELHI: India’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, recently spoke out regarding Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan’s controversial celebration. After reaching his fifty, Farhan mimicked firing a gun with his bat, an act that drew attention and discussion. Doeschate clarified that Team India’s priority remained squarely on controlling their own actions and ‘sticking to cricket’.
Reflecting on the match, Doeschate noted, ‘They had a very good start. I don’t think they got carried away with it. We managed to pull it back really well after 10 overs. Given the situation, you can see why the opposition behaved that way, but we were very focused on how we wanted to behave. I think we stuck to the cricket really well.’
He further elaborated on the team’s mindset: ‘It would have been easy to lose our minds at that point, given the celebration and some of the words from the Pakistan bowling unit. I thought the guys stuck to the task of getting the job done and winning the game. Like I said, not at our very best—lots to work on—but still managing to win comfortably is very pleasing for us.’
Doeschate also touched upon India’s middle-order strategies, specifically discussing Sanju Samson’s role at number five. With skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma positioned at numbers three and four, Samson is currently adapting to the demands of pacing an innings from his new batting slot.
‘Yeah, he has had two outings now, two decent chances, and he’s still figuring out how to play that role. I think the wicket was a little tighter in the Pakistan game,’ Doeschate stated.
In the Super 4s clash against Pakistan, Samson contributed 13 runs off 17 balls. Doeschate expressed confidence in Samson’s potential: ‘But certainly with the way Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma are performing at the top, and your captain batting at three alongside Tilak, we really need someone dependable at No. 5. We believe Sanju is the best man for that job and have no doubt he’ll figure out how to play that role in the future.’
India defeated Pakistan by six wickets in Super Fours clash on Sunday.